He is in fact a white liberal elitist - thus the source of his failure to understand.

Exactly.

This reminds me of a famous quote by Pauline Kael, the late somewhat unlamented film critic of the New Yorker. Everyone here knows it:

"I can't believe Nixon won. No one I know voted for him."

Because in her mind, she was still the poor little Jewish girl raised on a poultry farm in California -- not one of the most famous writers in America, pulling down a six figure salary amongst the gliteratti of New York City.

Chris Matthews is still the working-class Irish-Catholic kid from Philly, and Tim Russert still the working-class Irish-Catholic kid from Buffalo, who probably will remember to his dying day JFK passing him within yards during a campaign stop, and the emotion he felt emanating from his dad.

(The latter from his book, "Wisdom of Our Fathers" -- dayum. Faith of Our Fathers, Dreams from My Fathers...these Boomers only concentrate on their fathers. Didn't the mothers have any input??)

I guess it's their rationalisation for "keeping it real" and thinking of themselves not as famous rich white guys, but like working-class stiffs like their parents.

"I am not like you. I am a billionaire. I have homes in San Diego, Vail, Monaco and St. Kitts. I have my own jet, a paid staff of 80 people to serve my family, and I haven't been in a grocery store for 10 years. The President's job is not to feel your pain or drink shots of Crown with a Natty Bo chaser. The President's job is to keep his hand on the wheel of the ship of state and to keep you safe. It is a job I have performed well in managing the affairs of my hedge fund, and it is a job I will do well for you."

Anytime you have a bank account balance that has a crooked numbered followed by 6 or more zeros, you are not a "regular" person -- that goes for McCain, Obama, and Clinton. Schwarzenegger seems to be the only pol that does not pretend to be like 20k per year blue collar guy.

"I am not like you. I am a billionaire. I have homes in San Diego, Vail, Monaco and St. Kitts.

Only one, that I have read in all my research into presidential candidates.

John F. Kennedy.

Not quite how you put it, Blue Moon. But during a few debates, his political opponents always started out their speeches by referencing that they were products of three-decker Southie housing, with lunch bucket dads, or mothers who scrubbed the laundry so hard, their fingers were red raw by 30.

Picture the scene then.

Jack Kennedy stands up.

(Reed-thin, toothy, looking about 12 years-old due to his Addison's, but dressed in his those impeccable hand-me-down 1930's Savile Row suits, back when his dad was Ambassador to the Court of St. James)

And he says,

"Well, I guess I'm the only one here who didn't come up the hard way."

Sheepish grin, bows down to look at his notes, and carries on.

The crowd lapped it up and didn't stop clapping for 5 minutes when he ended.

"Well, I guess I'm the only one here who didn't come up the hard way."

Sheepish grin, bows down to look at his notes, and carries on.

The crowd lapped it up and didn't stop clapping for 5 minutes when he ended.

That's class. That's honesty. That's a politician you can respect

And you will never see another one like him again in our lifetime. Why? Because the process now is so fouled and poisoned to the point that any sane person who has a modicum of character wouldn't impale themselves on the public scrutiny that is required to be an attention whore these days to become POTUS.

Just make sure Daddy sends you to the Pacific, because killing Japs in a war you really get into is better than fighting Germans, who are almost like us. Make sure Daddy hires Ted Sorensen to ghost that book and give you gravitas (and buys the Pulitzer committee too). Just make sure Daddy buys West Virginia, lock stock and barrel. Just make sure Illinois is taken care of. And once were in, lets party with Frank and the pack, and pass Marilyn around.

john said...Just make sure Daddy sends you to the Pacific, because killing Japs in a war you really get into is better than fighting Germans, who are almost like us.

The race baiting doesn't apply here. The Golden Boy of the Kennedy family Joe Jr was killed fighting the Germans and the European theater of war was the perfect place to gain glory for a future political career.

The race baiting doesn't apply here. The Golden Boy of the Kennedy family Joe Jr was killed fighting the Germans and the European theater of war was the perfect place to gain glory for a future political career

Yes, John that was weird.

One of the MAIN reasons Joe Sr. was so against fighting the Nazis (apart from being a nasty man in general), was he knew with a chilling certainty that his beloved sons would fight in it.

JFK could've used his dad's influence to get him out of war, like his ex-shipmate Barney Frank and many others said, repeatedly.

Instead, he applied and was turned down by the Army twice, and Navy once. He even went out West to get sun and air into him, to make sure he passed the last Navy physical.

You could be right about the other stuff, but you are dead wrong about his courage and tenacity.

BTW, another son of a famous man desperately wanted to fight in a war, despite physical handicaps.

Rudyard Kipling's son, another John, whose story was recently made into a film, My Boy Jack.

Unlike old Joe, Kipling practically threw his son into No Man's Land, and never forgave himself afterwards.

The things boys do, to live up to...or live down their father's lives.

You are supplying some good tidbits. Do you know what kind of personal story Reagan used? I assume he was a millionaire by the time he ran for Prez- and that was when a million was real dough (sarcasm).

You are supplying some good tidbits. Do you know what kind of personal story Reagan used? I assume he was a millionaire by the time he ran for Prez- and that was when a million was real dough (sarcasm).

Yeah, but Reagan actually was like Clinton -- he came from almost nothing:

An itinerant Irish drunk's son, who wasn't even born in a house his parent's owned (he's the only president to have been born in an apartment!).

Each Presidential candidate has to live down details of his life, but in Reagan's case it wasn't his being a Hollywood actor and sure, being richer than most -- but those were actually positive points given his start in life.

The concern about Reagan is where his millions came from. They didn't come from his acting career, or his salary as head of the Actor's Guild. He was a party to a number of corrupt bargains with Lew Wasserman, and was paid off in sweetheart real estate deals. He had other income sources, but flipping prime SoCal real estate is a great way to inflate one's wealth (then as now, albeit with periodic market corrections), especially if you don't have to pay an entry fee.

That said, he was in retrospect the most consequential president of our lifetimes in many ways I can't help but applaud.

I figure all our presidents had to climb up a pole coated with various quantities of slime to get to the position of credible candidate. Perhaps it is better to have a president in hock to an octogenarian movie mogul rather one obliged to deliver for public-employee labor unions, the oil industry, or an ambitious spouse.